Opening Up FirePlace

[scrivomcdivo]

I am currently in the process of purchasing a house and we are near to finalisation. The current fire in the living room is something like the below:

http://www.fleetwoodfires.co.uk/png/showroom.jpg

Nonetheless, we'd ideally love to install a fire similar to the below:

http://i17.ebayimg.com/01/i/08/8a/b4/a4_12.JPG

If you look in the second photograph, the chimney breast is opened up and you can see the true brickwork of the chimney.

I'm just wondering how hard it would be to change from the fire in pic 1 to the fire in pic 2? I am assuming that some brickwork holding the original fire in place would have to be removed.

Thanks

 

[JohnD]

Not very difficult, but the efficiency and the loss of warm air up the chimney will be such that you might as well make a small pile of £5 notes and set fire to them to keep the room warm.

 

[Richard C]

Can’t really tell from the photos if the original is real coal or gas/coal effect & likewise the proposed fire is real logs or if it’s a log effect gas fire. The most important thing you need to check, either way, is that the flue is compatible for the fire that you’re going to use i.e. burning solid fuel requires a class 1 flue.

If they are both gas then you shouldn’t have any problems but these fires are designed primarily for aesthetic effect & put out comparatively little heat so you will get an awful lot of heat escaping up the chimney in winter. We had a large inglenook in our previous house & although it was suitable for solid fuel, we had a large gas, log effect fire installed. In winter, we had to light the gas fire to prevent all the heat from the c/h radiators in the room escaping up the chimney & quell the huge draught of cold air it pulled across the floor from the outside vent.

We now have an old, rural property with a much smaller open fire & we use all the time to burn coal & logs but we still have oil fired CH for the rest of the house. The fire needs replacing & I’m thinking of installing either a more efficient multi-fuel convector unit or even one with a back boiler to compliment the oil c/h system.

 

[scrivomcdivo]

Both fires in both images are mains gas fires and are NOT solid fuel so I'm assuming it shouldn't be a problem.

I have read a little about the loss of heat through the chimney from these sorts of fires. Is it not possible to put some sort of roof about a foot up the chimney so that the heat is bounced back and circulated around the room?

 

[Richard C]

Is it not possible to put some sort of roof about a foot up the chimney so that the heat is bounced back and circulated around the room?

No the flue has to be open & unrestricted to allow the products of combustion to escape. I don’t think the fact that your opening up the hearth will make a lot if any difference to the amount of heat lost up the chimney as the flue will remain the same diameter. It’s a nice looking fire though, just resign your self to having it on when the evenings get cold to stop the heat from the c/h system (I assume you have one!) from going straight up the chimney.

Re opening up the chimney; don’t know how much experience you have on work like this but be careful when removing the bricks, you may need to insert a bigger lintel over the hearth to support the brickwork above; remove the plaster first so you can see how it’s all supported. You may also be disappointed when you expose the bricks behind your existing fireplace as they are likely to be very crude & won’t look very nice, certainly nothing like the ones in your picture! You will probably have to take them out & re-line the opening, you can also get thin facing bricks that stick onto the existing bricks but look just like the real thing.

 

[wilgartw]

Both fires in both images are mains gas fires and are NOT solid fuel so I'm assuming it shouldn't be a problem.

I have read a little about the loss of heat through the chimney from these sorts of fires. Is it not possible to put some sort of roof about a foot up the chimney so that the heat is bounced back and circulated around the room?

to save the heatloss when the fire is not being used:
http://www.chimney-balloon.co.uk/

 

[Richard C]

[/quote]to save the heatloss when the fire is not being used:
http://www.chimney-balloon.co.uk/[/quote]

What an interesting looking device; but don't forget to take it out before you light the fire!